Letters to the editor 12/14

CH Energy should stay in U.S. hands

I recently went on the Internet and was accosted by the headline "Fortis takeover of CH Energy group."

CH is Central Hudson Gas & Electric, which has been a mainstay of dependable and affordable electric and gas service since 1926.

Fortis Inc. is a Canadian utility company which is offering $1.5 billion for the takeover of Central Hudson Gas & Electric. To me this is unconscionable! Our government should intervene and not allow this takeover.

This is a public service utility - not Macy's. The Public Service Commission must approve the deal, but at present PSC staffers have concerns over public benefits, merger conditions, financial savings and costs, which eventually will affect rates and customer service.

We don't need or want a foreign company owning Central Hudson - even though I am pro-Canadian when it comes to buying their manufactured products and having them as a U.S. ally.

Why would Central Hudson even consider the Fortis proposal? We are happy and thankful for Central Hudson continuing its self-ownership and serving Dutchess County residents. We depend on their excellent management and very knowledgeable outside personnel who solve horrific electrical problems, such as those caused by Hurricane Sandy.

Central Hudson personnel should get together en masse and oppose this merger/takeover. The residents who depend on Central Hudson for their electric and gas service, should call or write Central Hudson not to sell but to keep Central Hudson as an American-owned utility.

Florence Graff

Wappingers Falls

Jobs bill could be fix for infrastructure

We know that our infrastructure, e.g., roads, bridges, sewer and water systems, public schools, etc., badly needs too long deferred maintenance, which must be paid for by government revenue. We currently seriously suffer from an unacceptably high level of unemployment. A jobs bill, such as that sent by President Obama to the House, is an obvious, responsible way of addressing these two situations. Encourage Speaker of the House John Boehner to at least allow the president's jobs proposal to come up for discussion, possible amendment, and hopefully passage. If the House can improve upon it, fine tune it, do so. Why simply bury it?

Allow the top federal tax rate to go back to the level it was under the Clinton administration. Use that additional revenue to offset the costs of the proposed jobs bill. Thus, jobs are created, but the deficit does not increase. In fact, if this were done at a "break even" level, the deficit would actually decrease. These jobs, by the multiplier effect produce income for others in the economy, more jobs. etc., need for unemployment benefits, food stamps goes down, tax revenues go up.

We have too often heard the maddening excuses for not doing this from Boehner.

He opposes the jobs bill because it (by itself) increases the deficit and he ignores its job creation. He then rejects it, because he says it doesn't create jobs, but ignores that it does (by itself) reduce the deficit. I think most of us by now see through this.

Bill Griffith

Tivoli

A just society provides health care, education

Health care and education are two services which a just society provides to all its citizens without regard to social or economic status. Dr. Steven Ritter's recent column (Valley Views: Health care shouldn't be a money-making proposition," Dec. 6) eloquently argues for a nonprofit approach to both. The privatization of medical care and the emphasis on bottom line profits has compromised both the safety and delivery of good medicine.

A just society provides for all its citizens and, in return, society benefits when its citizens are well cared for and well educated. Why is it that most countries in Europe are able to provide excellent medical care and here in the United States, we reject the concept of a single-payer system? It's also worth noting that in measurements of educational effectiveness, Finland, the Netherlands, and many other countries rank above the United States.

Eleanor Aronstein

retired teacher, Hyde Park Central School District

Poughkeepsie

State police should be commended for work

Many thanks to the state police for their hard work and quick arrest in the recent tragic murder in Staatsburg.

Sharon Benin

Staatsburg

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Letters to the editor 12/14

I recently went on the Internet and was accosted by the headline 'Fortis takeover of CH Energy group.' CH is Central Hudson Gas & Electric, which has been a mainstay of dependable and affordable